The second wave came harder, louder, the mist rolling with snarls and pounding paws. Arden had warned them before it even broke through.

"Another group. Larger. Hold steady."

The guards tightened their grips, but when the beasts tore out of the fog, Arden's party was already moving.

Rael shot forward, lightning cracking from his gauntlets as he split one in two, then turned with a grin. "That's five!"

Nyra clicked her tongue, sending a lance of ice straight through another's skull. "Six. You're falling behind."

Zephyra barreled past them both, claws raking, her growl rumbling deep. She tossed the corpse aside and barked, "Seven."

Even in the chaos, Arden's voice stayed calm, sharp as steel. "Rael, cover the right. Nyra, don't overextend. Zephyra, hold the rear. They're circling."

The guards, weapons raised, found themselves frozen again. The sheer rhythm of it all… the way the party moved like they'd fought together for years, how Arden barely raised his tone yet bent the battle around his words—it left them standing still. These weren't mercenaries. They weren't just skilled fighters either. They looked like something else entirely.

One guard muttered under his breath, "They don't even look tired…"

He wasn't wrong. Rael laughed through a strike, Nyra smirked after every clean kill, Zephyra growled like it was a game. Arden wasn't smiling, but his eyes burned as he cut down another beast and flicked the blood off his blade without pause.

"You four," his voice broke through the guards' trance, "stop staring. Go help the labourers. If you want this haul to be worth anything, get the herbs packed before we're swarmed again."

The leader hesitated. "But—"

Arden's glare snapped to him, not harsh, just final. "Do as I said. Leave this to us."

Reluctance shifted into resignation. The guards turned, finally driving the labourers to move faster with the harvest. If they couldn't fight like Arden's group, then at least they could make themselves useful.

Boro, watching with arms crossed, exhaled through his nose. He had dealt with countless escorts before, but never ones who looked death in the eye and mocked it. The boy wasn't just leading them, he was holding the entire battlefield in his palm. Worth every coin, Boro thought. Maybe more.

"Faster!" Arden's shout cut across the wagons. "We've made enough noise to wake the whole zone. This won't hold."

The labourers bent their backs harder, loading sacks of herbs onto carts. The guards helped, still stealing glances at the fight they'd been told to leave behind.

For a while, it looked as though Arden's party could cut down every beast the mist coughed out. And then, the ground rumbled.

The air thickened, heavy enough that even the labourers paused mid-motion. Somewhere deeper in the fog, a roar rolled like thunder, shaking loose the courage in their bones.

Arden's eyes lifted, steady and cold. He tightened his grip on his blade, voice low but clear.

"That… isn't the same as the rest."

The mist shivered. Something larger was coming.

Just as Arden's senses flared, the system's text bled across his vision.

[Mistfang Serpent – B+ Rank Beast]

Affinity: Water / Mist

Traits: Ancient serpent that thrives in wetlands and fog. Its scales release a mist that blinds prey. Known for patient ambush and suffocating its victims.

Abilities: Mistshroud Domain. Fang of Drowning Veil. Serpentine Mirage. Silent Constriction.

Threat Assessment: Extreme. Do not linger in fog terrain.

Arden's jaw tightened. This wasn't something the group could afford to drag into a long fight, not with wagons full of herbs and tired labourers.

"Move forward," he ordered, voice even but carrying weight. "Faster. Don't stop."

The guards looked at him, unsure, but his tone left no room for debate. He didn't shout, yet somehow it felt heavier than any barked command they had heard before.

Rael frowned. "You're staying."

"I am," Arden said simply. "The rest of you get them out. Zephyra—take point."

The wolf-beast growled low, the sound reverberating in their bones. Through their bond, his words were sharper. Lead them. Don't look back.

Her answer was a rumble of pride. Do not die, Arden.

"I don't plan to." He smiled faintly, and when the group glanced back at him, it was that grin they caught last before the mist folded over him.

Boro muttered, half in awe, half in dread, "What kind of boy faces something like that alone?"

The guards didn't answer. Their knuckles were white around their weapons, but even they obeyed, herding the labourers on.

Rael, walking backwards as the fog swallowed Arden's figure, said with casual certainty, "Relax. This is nothing new."

Nyra added, "He'll enjoy it more without us slowing him down."

The reassurance was strange, but it steadied the caravan. Still, the tremors that rolled back through the ground and the sharp flashes of light inside the fog reminded them the fight was very real.

Inside the mist, the serpent moved.

A hiss tore through the haze as its Mistshroud Domain spread wide, thickening the fog until sight was useless. The air grew damp, heavy, clinging. Arden drew a slow breath, and light surged through his veins.

"Radiant Pulse Vein."

The explosion of light tore through the mist, scattering the veil for a heartbeat. The serpent's colossal body flashed into view—scaled, coiled, jaws dripping with a venom that steamed where it touched the ground.

Then the fog folded again, and its body blurred into afterimages.

Arden's eyes narrowed. Hunter's Intuition sharpened, and his body flickered with Steptrace Mirage, slipping him through false bodies until his blade scraped against real scales. The serpent lunged, coils snapping around him, but he stamped the ground.

"Ignition Tremor Chain."

The shockwave blasted through the fog, fire tearing its cover apart. The serpent recoiled, scales burning, its mist scattering as flames carved lines through the field. Ash trailed in the air, marking zones where it couldn't hide.

The beast roared, its mirages flickering, but Arden was already moving, blinking through its strikes.

It coiled again, faster, its pressure crushing. He caught its movement and snapped, "Not this time—"

Gleamcoil Reversal. Light burst outward, a violent stun that left the serpent reeling. Arden's blade struck home, chaining the technique with another tremor shockwave, then a final radiant burst that lit the mist like dawn.

The serpent's body convulsed, the fog shredding with it. The crash of its fall rolled through the wetlands like thunder.

Far ahead, the wagons rattled as the shock reached them. The guards looked back, eyes wide.

"Is it over?" one muttered.

The ground stilled, but the labourers kept whispering nervously, wondering if Arden had survived.

Zephyra lifted her head suddenly, ears twitching. Then she snorted, satisfied. It's dead.

Life energy trickled through their bond into her core, proof undeniable. She padded forward, tail swaying, her voice rumbling in the minds of Rael and Nyra. He is late only because he enjoys playing with prey.

The guards shivered at her words still not believing, but Rael only smirked. "Told you."

Nyra folded her arms, calm as ever. "Now quit staring. He'll catch up."

Still, the image of that last grin lingered in their minds, and none of them could quite decide if it was reckless or terrifying.

A/N:

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